Art Inspiration: Reverse Graffiti

INCIDENT:
Over the past year or so, reverse graffiti has been getting a lot of attention among artists and for good reason. The creativity and beauty in these often elaborate pieces call us to question societal perceptions about traditional graffiti. And while reverse graffiti simply involves cleaning dirt or debris to create an image instead of the use of paint or markers, somehow it is still subject to the same perception of recklessness and lawlessness as traditional graffiti.

Alexandre Orion working on his piece "Ossario: Art Less Pollution" via Ossario

The blog, Environmental Graffiti, which writes about cool and quirky environmental news, did a good overview of works of reverse graffiti. The ad hoc scribbles on dirty cars that we have all done at some point in our lives are put to shame by these works. Be on the look at for this style of graffiti to flourish in the future.

One of my favorites are Brazil's Alexandre Orion work "Ossario: Art Less Pollution," where he cleaned skulls into the wall of a transportation tunnel to highlight the negative effect of car emissions.

The originator of reverse graffiti is arguably Paul "Moose" Curtis. His Reverse Graffiti Project has done several large scale works in San Francisco.

Reverse Graffiti Project by Moose Curtis via PicoCool

MORAL:
This is a great example of the rethinking of materials. Both the production and execution of these pieces are noteworthy. The pieces themselves are awe inspiring and the process is equally intriguing.